Peter Keler designed his "red cube" in 1925 as a prototype at the State Bauhaus School in Weimar. Keler’s object was intended for Farkas Molnar’s single family home "The Red Cube" and addresses the challenge of colour in interior design as perceived at that time. Uphols­tered in red leather, the original is held in the permanent collection at the Cantilever Chair Museum / Tecta Archive in Lauenförde.

All major designers, including Mart Stam, have walked through this central room of the Bauhaus in Weimar. Consciously or unconsciously, they were already influenced by the overarching ideas of the F51 armchair. Its protruding armrests can be seen as a precursor of Mart Stam’s chairs without back legs and anticipate Marcel Breuer’s stool on runners (1925).

Following his retirement, the designer was granted permission to leave the German Democratic Republic for a period each year and he became a long-time friend of Axel Bruchhäuser. Keler eventually gifted several Bauhaus originals to Bruchhäuser, including the first prototype of the Red Cube Armchair. Not only did he speak extensively about his friend Marcel Breuer – for whom he de­ve­loped his horsehair fabric in Weimar – Keler also assisted Axel Bruchhäuser to acquire an original Breuer piece (the designer’s first folding chair) from Pro­fessor Kesting of Ahrenshoop, who had purchased the object in the late 1920s at the Neue Kunst Fides gallery in Dresden.

The Bauhaus Archive in Berlin has officially licensed the D1 from Tecta as an authentic Bauhaus production, made to the exact proportions of the original design.

• Peter Keler, Germany (1920)
  
• Solid beech wood and beech plywood frame, plastic castors, selected textile or leather upholstery on foam with loose cushion
• Made in Germany
• Height 67cm / 26.3"
• Depth 72cm / 28.3"
• Width 80cm / 31.5"
• Seat Height 41cm / 16"